Inbox/Outbox: December 14, 2012

I spent the weekend traveling by train, and for the first time in recent memory, I had several consecutive hours of uninterrupted reading time. It was glorious! I’ve also finally discovered the joy of reading on my phone (I know, I know…sometimes I’m slow at things), so a boring hour in a waiting room turned into an hour of power thanks to my Nook app. Go go gadget reader tools! Here’s a look at my week in books.

Inbox (Books Acquired)

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer (Riverhead, April 2013)

I was late to the Meg Wolitzer party and only just discovered her when The Uncoupling, a modern take on Lysistrata, came out last year. What I lacked in timeliness I’m making up for in enthusiasm, though, and I couldn’t have been more excited when this showed up on my doorstep. It’s the story of a close group of friends who meet at a fine arts summer camp as teens and see their bond through the decades as their talents develop and lives change. I’ve started it, and it’s fantastic. We’re going to see a lot about this book next year. You heard it here.

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz

Admit it–you’ve thought about trying to recreate the amazing meals from Hogwarts at home. Now you can! This cookbook has been out for a little while now, and I’m excited to test it out. But where to start? There are classically British pies, puddings, muffins, and even something called Acid Drops! Butterbeer is nowhere to be found, but I’m pretty sure I could come up with something.

Outbox (Books Finished)

Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume edited by Jennifer O’Connell

I’ve already raved about this collection of essays from contemporary women writers about the impact Judy Blume’s books made on them in adolescence, but that’s not going to stop me from doing it again. If you’re a reader, especially a woman reader, of a certain age, you doubtless have a Judy Blume story. Whether your lightbulb moment happened with Margaret or Deenie or Katherine in Forever…, you can attribute some of your knowledge about love, sex, friendship, family, and individuality to the original queen of YA. These pieces will remind you of the reading experiences that shaped your young life and likely leave you reaching for your well-worn volumes.

I’m also still working my way through Cormac McCarthy’s Suttree.

In the Queue

In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood’s fiction is amazing, and now she’s given us thoughts about the writing of speculative fiction and science fiction. This book is billed as part personal philosophy and part literary criticism/theory, and it looks 100% awesome. I can’t wait to dive into it over the holidays for the next episode of my podcast, Bookrageous.

To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion by Philip Greene